Ngiyajubula!

I'm so sorry it has been so long! I wish I had a worth while excuse, but honestly I've just been busy. Much has happened though so I will do my to fill you in. This past week and a half has been full of transitions and fun. I think the easiest way will be to make a list.

THE TOP 10 THINGS i think you should know about.

1. Zulu is over! and i survived :) I took my final oral Zulu test tuesday and the written on Wednesaday. Both went very well. There's a pretty good chance I'll be receiving an A in the class which is very exciting, considering how ridiculously hard the class proved to be. . After our final on Wednesday the Zulu class got to embark on our first and last field trip which was lots of fun. Our Zulu teacher took us to a Butterflies of Africa where we got to see all kinds of beautful butterflies. We also went to the Pietermaritzburg Museum as well as the muesum of art. After that our class took Winn, our Zulu instructor out to dinner. It was really fun to celebrate the end of an intensive and challenging five weeks. Here's a picture of the whole class at butterflies for africa :)

2. Now that Zulu is over, were going into the last part of the program which is an community engagement class that includes an intensive service project. Our instructor is a community developer from Kenya. He has worked for the organization World Vision for 14 years. He now works in Kenya as independent consultant for community development. We had our first class today and I really enjoyed it. He took us all outside and had we sat under a tree and discussed aspects of community development. Later he had us all stand up in a circle, then he announced that in 3 minutes there would be a fire in the middle of the circle and we would create it, then he said go. Sure enough our group rush into action and using the sticks and paper close by plus a few matches and created a small fire in 3 minutes. The activity was to demonstrate how a community comes together and how they must work with what they have, just as we worked with the resources and knowledge we had way. . It was a fun activity and definitely unique. Since I've never been in a class where were required to go outside and build a fire. I'm excited for the next month.

3. fall break 08! Last weekend was fall break . Spring break, really but it's of course fall here. A group of 12 of us venture off to Durban (about an hour from PMB) to stay at a backpackers hostel for the weekend. The hostel was incredibly nice with pool and everything. It was also about two miles from the beach front. The street our hostel was on was full of amazing restaurants, even a Mexican one! It was amazing! the restaurant was called taco zulu and after 3 months of no Mexican food our group was in heaven. On Saturday we went to a professional soccer game. the pirates vs. the royals. We cheered for the more popular team, the pirates. We told by several locals that we should cheer for the pirates if we wanted to be safe and be liked. People were a lot nicer to us once they knew who we were cheering for. It was quite an cultural experience as our 20 person group made up the entire white population. The audience gets pretty intense as well. We made friends with a few of the people sitting next to us and i got to practice some of my zulu with them. It was fun to yell out Zulu phases like "woza" the whole time.

We spent quite a bit of time relaxing on the beach which was much needed. We also went to a few different markets. I got a little too much sun, but luckily I didn't get burnt. Overall it was an amazing weekend and a complete blast.

heres a picture of group after the soccer game:


4. It's summer no more. It's turning into fall here which has meant a lot less sun and a lot more rain. Last week we had several thunder-lightening storms. The last couple of days haven't been to bad though and it's still gorgeous here even when it rains.

5. Canopy tour. On thursday, our group went on a canopy tour which was absolutely amazing and breath taking. I zip lined through the forest basically. It was really scary and intense but so fun. I'm not terrified of heights but I don't love them so it was pretty crazy. Here's a picture of my group before we headed out.


6. Only five weeks left. I can not believe how fast time has gone by. Now that we are beginning the last leg of the trip I feel time is going to go by faster then ever and it's completely insane!

7. We had visitors! Last week we had a bunch of american vistors. Five of the people on our team either had their families or friends come visit. It was fun to see people with their families and to have new faces around. It was especially exciting for one of the ladies on our trip. Jenna's boyfriend of two years come visit for the week. Jenna's a senior and was my roommate in Cape Town. Anyway her boyfriend proposed the in the middle of the week! So now their engaged which is extremely exciting. Needlessly to say it was an quite an exciting few days.

8. The monkeys are attacking! Now I'm just thinking up random things to tell you about because I'm running out of important things. Anyway the monkeys we share our home with have gotten quite aggressive recently! They are now chasing after us and making extremely odd hissing-like noises all the time. My theory is they've all gone sugar crazy since they are always sneaking into the dining room and stealing all the sugar packets they can get their hands on.

9. I miss all of you! It's been so long since I've seen any of you. As sad as it's going to be to leave this place, I'm getting really excited about seeing all of you and catching up on life.

10. Have I told you about tea time? I'm not sure if I have. One of things I love most about living at AE is tea time twice a day. We have tea time in the morning at 10:30 and in the afternoon at 4. Usually in the morning we have the most amazing muffins and in the afternoons really yummy cookies. It something I'm going to for sure miss once I'm back in America.

Sorry this is sooo incredibly long!

Let's Play!

So I just got back from visiting a preschool about 25 minutes from where we're staying. It was so fun. i could have stayed there all day. We sung songs with the kids, played around, and ate snack.

We also went to a Muslim elementary school before the preschool. We didn't stay very long, but it was fun to meet them and play games. Here are some pictures from my morning!

Go Sharks!

(I wrote some of this update Saturday night, but our Internet was down all day Sunday and Monday and the power has been out today)

Update on Life:

Hello again. I know I keep promising more updates but quite honestly life isn’t too exciting at the moment. Life has fallen into routine here at African Enterprise Center. It’s pretty much like going to normal school, just in Africa. Okay so it’s pretty different than APU and normal life. I’m learning Zulu and it’s probably the hardest thing ever done academically. When I’m not in class I’m studying or hanging with people playing games and having fun or walking around this crazy place. What I’m trying to say is that one or two posts a week usually sums up the highlights of the week. However, once service projects start up in a few weeks there will be a lot more to report on.

This last weekend was fun and relaxing. We didn’t have class on Friday so the weekend started early. I went to chapel (we have chapel as a group on Mondays and Fridays) in the morning and slept most of the rest of day, because I didn’t feel well. I’m feeling a lot better now, but this weekend was a little rough. Saturday we had a Durban day. We went to the beach in the morning. In the evening we went to a Shark Rugby game. It was cool to take part in a sporting event that’s South African and not something you’d find in the States. It was cultural experience of sorts. The Sharks are a pretty big deal in Durban. They were playing New Zealand. Rugby games are awesome! I had no clue what was going on as far as rules and such but it was really intense. Even after the game was over, my understanding of Rugby is pretty limited, I know that they can only pass backwards and that tackling is allowed and they wear no protective gear. The crowd was amazing and had so much energy. Everyone had flags waving and was cheering like crazy. The Sharks won which made the game even more fun.

Sunday was relaxing. I was still getting over being sick so I slept in and did homework in the afternoon.

til next time,

Julia

Another week has gone by and I apologize once again for my lack of posts. We had Zulu class every day last week and it was quite exhausting. We’ve learned so much! I how know present and past tense, commands, questions, and constructing sentences. I'm still struggling with pronunciation but more practice should help. Our Zulu teacher also teaches at a local middle school and she has writing letters to her students there and they’re going to write back. She said she could even arrange for us to visit her class one day next week. I think it’ll be fun to meet her students.

Since we had Zulu everyday, we didn’t get out at all the last week. Since the mall trips and movie runs are usually made in the afternoon during our class. Although beautiful nature reserves, monkeys, and zebras surround us, I’m really excited for the next trip to town. I’m going a little crazy.

Tonight we’re going to church though. I’m excited. From what I hear it’s a big church and there’s a concert tonight. Last week I attended a church whose Pastor works at the African Enterprise. I loved it. They had like an hour and half of worship. It was really great to worship with such a diverse group of people. Plus there were about 20 babies there and a bunch of kids. I got to play with a few of them after the service.

Although I'm going a little crazy being on campus so much I do love it here. I have found several amazing spots to sit and think and pray. There's so much time for reflection. One of my favorite spots is right next to a waterfall. I could sit there for hours and just read. I love being in nature. I feel the Lord has really blessed us with this place.

I almost forget yesterday we attended drum lessons. It was really fun. We all got to play african djembe drums. I wasn't very good, but I had a good time trying. It was pretty much the highlight of my week.